The Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara, officially the Archeparchy of Asmara ( la, Archieparchia Asmarensis or la, Metropolitana Ecclesia Asmarensis), more informally Asmara of the Eritreans, is the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...

of the Metropolitan

Eritrean Catholic Church The Eritrean Catholic Church ( la, Ecclesia Catholica Erythraea; ti, ኤርትራዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን, translit=Chiesa Eritrea) is a metropolitan ''sui iuris'' Eastern particular church headquartered in Asmara, Eritrea. It was esta ...

, a ''sui iuris''

Eastern Catholic Church The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

whose territory corresponds to that of the

State of Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...

in the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004 ...

.
postolic Constitution ( papal bull) ''Multum fructum'' of 19 January 2015 It depends on the

Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicast ...

. As head of an autonomous

particular church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with universals. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to a ...

, the Metropolitan Archeparch, currently Menghesteab Tesfamariam, is mentioned by name, after the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, in the

liturgies Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

celebrated within the suffragan eparchies of Barentu, Keren and

Segheneyti Segheneytī qoraxat ti, ሰገነይቲ (sometimes anglicized as Segheneity and known also as Saganeiti, Seganeiti, Seganeyti, Segeleyti, Segeneyti, Segeneytī, Segheneiti) is a small town in the Southern Region of Eritrea. Akele Guzai which Segen ...

. The Eritrean Catholic Church, like the

Ethiopian Catholic Church The Ethiopian Catholic Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ካቶሊክ ቤተ ክርስቲያን; la, Ecclesia Catholica Aethiopica) is a metropolitan ''sui iuris'' Eastern particular church within the Catholic Church, established in 1930 in Eth ...

, from which it was separated in 2015, uses in its liturgy the Ethiopic variant of the

Alexandrian Rite Alexandrian rites are liturgical rites employed by three Oriental Orthodox churches, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by their Eastern Catholic c ...

in the Ge'ez language. It is the

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

counterpart of the

Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( ti, ቤተ ክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ኤርትራ) is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. Its autocephaly was recognised by Pope Shenouda III of Alexandr ...

, which was granted

autocephaly Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Or ...

in 1993, and is headed by an Orthodox Patriarch, who also is based in the Eritrean capital. Since the Eritrean Catholic Church is a

metropolitanate A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. ...

, not a

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in c ...

al or major archiepiscopal Church, the power of its metropolitan and council of hierarchs is limited to its own territory, which covers all and only

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...

, (

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...

or, more precisely, the

). Faithful outside of Eritrea are immediately subject to the Pope. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

of the ''

sui iuris ''Sui iuris'' ( or ) also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both secular law and the Catholic Church's canon law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic '' Code of Ca ...

is Kidane Mehret Cathedral in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The c ...

, the capital city of

. Other

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

churches in Asmara include Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, which was the former ecclesiastical seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eritrea.

Statistics

In 2015, the Archeparchy pastorally served 31,850 Catholics (1% of the 3,258,000 population) in 59 parishes, with 336 priests (20 diocesan, 316 religious), 2 permanent deacons, 602 men religious, 498 sisters and 206 seminarians.

Metropolitan ''sui iuris'' Church

While

al and major archiepiscopal Eastern Catholic Churches may be structured as provinces, each headed by a

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

– the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's ...

has

several {{Short pages monitor